Page 10 of The Dating Game

Apparently. And I bet they just never invite me because I am so incredibly boring.

“Of course I know Luke. He’s my best friend. And I work with your sister. Plus, Luke hasn’t been able to shut up about her for the last few months,” he adds with a rueful chuckle. “So I probably know her too well at this point.”

“You don’t work with Hannah,” I accuse. Does he? She does tend to switch careers quickly, and with her teaching job having been in such a precarious position I suppose it’s possible she started working somewhere else on the side. But at a skydiving adventureplace? Really?

“I guess technically after tonight you’re right,” he says with a sad smile. “But I’m hopeful she’ll get rehired at Grace Canyon in the future. She was an excellent art teacher.”

“Wait,” I cock my head, completely lost, “are you saying you work at Grace Canyon?”

“Yes,” he nods, looking bemused, “I’m the worship director for the church and school.”

I am so confused. “No, you’re not,” I inform him stupidly. “You’re a skydiving instructor. Oh!” A flash of realization strikes. “Oh my gosh!” I exclaim, putting a hand to my forehead. “No, you’re not. You have a twin, don't you? Andhe’sthe hot skydiving instructor I got strapped to then threw up all over.”

Yikes. Could’ve left the word ‘hot’ out of that sentence. Oh well, I was talking about his twin anyway.

Hisidenticaltwin.

But whatever.

Will laughs, and then a second burst of realization hits me and my cheeks flame with embarrassment. Identical twins may look the same, but they don’t usually have the same name.

“Uh, no. No identical twin. I’m the worship director at Grace Canyon and also the, uh, how did you phrase it?” His eyes dance with amusement as they land on me. “Hot skydiving instructor you got strapped to then threw up all over.”

Oh my untimely demise. I’m ready for you. Now is the time for my early death. Skydiving didn’t take me, so now this moment is going to.

I’m on the verge of holding my arms out and tilting my head to the sky in a ‘Jesus take me now’ gesture, when he continues talking and I remember myself.

“The skydiving gig is a side thing. My brother—not my twin brother, just a brother of the regular variety—took over the business from my parents, and I help out every now and again when he needs me.”

“Oh.” I fold my arms defensively across my chest. “I see. How very…All in the Familyof you.” I’m not actually sure what that sitcom was about. Possibly it had nothing to do with running a family business, but at least it sounded good.

Will laughs. He has an easy laugh. One that suggests he does it often. I find I want to laugh with him. But I stuff the urge down in favor of giving him a withering stare. In my experience the best defense against embarrassment is annoyance followed by nonchalance. If I pretend I’m not bothered then we can just skate on by that time I called him hot and accused him of being a twin.

“Alright,” I announce, brushing my hands against the fabric of my skirt, “well, this has been fun, but I really should be going.”

“Oh, okay.” If I’m not mistaken Will looks almost disappointed. “Well, that was fun in there, performing with you,” he says. “Although I am sorry it caused you trouble with your boyfriend.”

I can feel tears welling behind my eyes which means it is time to go. “Ex-boyfriend,” I choke out. Then I turn and flee the scene. He probably still thinks I’m upset about the breakup, but as I hurry back into the bar all I can think is that Will called me fun.

I really needed that tonight.

Chapter 3

Brooke

Assoonaswe’realone later that night, Sydney pounces on me.

“So, where did Grant rush off to earlier?” she asks in a tone of such complete innocence that it suggests she’s very guilty of being a devious little stinker who’s been planning this conversation since the moment Grant stormed off. Potentially even before that. Yeah, I get the feeling Sydney has been planning her victory since the night we made our bet.

Which is just so…well, let’s just say she’s lucky I don’t have access to anymore popcorn to throw at her.

“Don’t play stupid,” I huff. Did I consider lying to her about my breakup? Yes. But it would never work. Sydney is a human lie detector. Or at least she’s a Brooke lie detector. She knows all my tells, starting with the way my fingers always seem to dance across my thighs when I’m lying and ending with the embarrassing sheen of sweat that appears on my upper lip like some sort of liar’s mustache. “You know Grant broke up with me.” I fiddle with the dial on the radio, so as to not have to look at her. “Which,” I add thoughtfully, “brings up a good point. The bet was that I couldn’t date a guy for three months, which really implies that I would be the one breaking things off. But in this instance Grant is the one who broke things off with me.”

“Because of Will,” she interjects in a sing-song voice. I ignore her.

“Therefore,” I state with a very appropriate amount of gravitas, “it is my belief that I should be allowed to have another chance.”

I glance her way for any sign of an impending pardon, but her face gives nothing away, and I’m forced to turn back to the road because that’s what you’re supposed to do when driving.

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